Top Huawei executive calls for ‘open-minded’ US political leaders to ensure academic freedom
The focus on Huawei’s research ties in the US comes at a time of heightened tensions between China and the US over the control and development of new technologies and the implications for national security.
A top Huawei executive has called on “open-minded” US politicians to safeguard academic freedom at the country’s universities, in a rebuttal to calls by several members of Congress to investigate the Chinese company’s research partnerships.
“I believe this criticism displays an ignorance of how contemporary science and innovation work and described it as “ill-informed” during a recent media interview,” Eric Xu, who holds the rotating chairmanship of Shenzhen-based Huawei, wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times.
Academic freedom, he argued, is the cornerstone of higher learning. “This freedom from political and other interference allows the US consistently to attract the world’s brightest minds to study and conduct research within its borders,” Xu said in the essay. “It also supports the US’s continued status as a global technology leader.”
The publication of the essay comes after a bipartisan group of 26 lawmakers, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, wrote to US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in late June to highlight the national security implications of Huawei’s research partnerships and other relationships with several dozen American colleges and universities in areas of technology that the Chinese government is trying to dominate.